The present invention relates to a process for preparing 4-cyclohexyl-2-methyl-2-butanol.
4-Cyclohexyl-2-methyl-2-butanol, which is also known as coranol, is a fragrance with a lily-of-the-valley odor, the use of which as a constituent of fragrance compositions was described for the first time in U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,278.
The preparation of 4-cyclohexyl-2-methyl-2-butanol was described by N. E. Okazawa et al. in Can. J. Chem. 60 (1982), 2180-93 and comprises the conversion of 3-cyclohexylpropanoic acid to the acid chloride, which is then reacted with 2 mol of methyllithium to give 4-cyclohexyl-2-methyl-2-butanol. Owing to the use of methyllithium, this preparation process, especially in the case of performance on a larger scale, is afflicted with not inconsiderable risks and is economically unattractive. Nevertheless, no further preparation processes have been described to date in the literature.